Navy and Jade
by magicksRampage
Summary: Kanaya escapes the flaming apocalypse raining down on Alternia just in time to have her heart broken by Vriska. Her server player Equius, who sees her, offers comfort and unwittingly starts an inauspicious romance. Besides the implied canon pairings KanayaxEquius will be the main focus of this story. Rated T for character death, but otherwise tame.
1. Kanaya: Enter

Author's Notes: First off: Yes, this story will involve KanayaxEquius. I borrowed the title from Inky's 'The Unlikely Pairing'. Do not hate me, before you've read this whole thing. Afterwards you are welcome to do as you please. This is my first prose fan fiction and I will try to make it as believable and In-Character as possible. Constructive criticism is much appreciated.

Secondly, there will be some adventure-y action, because SGRUB, but it won't be the focus of this story. Also characters will die, you have been warned.

Thirdly, the doc manager insists on butchering Equius' quirk. There is really nothing I can do about it.

And lastly, I hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

The scorching Alternian sun stood high above the desert wastelands surrounding Kanaya Maryam's towering hive, not at its peak, but already on the way down from its journey across the bright blue sky. Not too long ago meteors had started falling from that same sky, their trails dissipating behind them, before they hit the seemingly endless sand covering the ground with a dampened noise. The sounds had kept growing louder, like the footsteps of a giant getting closer, ever so slowly, to the green grass immediately outside Kanaya's hive. Her time was running thin. Until now she had not been concerned with the situation threatening her life, if she failed to enter the game in time; in fact she had been more worried that Karkat might try to bring her in prematurely and close off the incomplete circle. She had spent her time trying to come up with pretences to stall him, until everyone had been convinced, that they were actually one big team instead of two competing ones. However it seemed that Karkat had been busy otherwise, most likely with Operation Regisurp, which Vriska had told her about. Kanaya lost focus as she remembered, how she had brought the cerulean blood into the game. Vriska had taken in everything she needed to do from Tavros' entry perfectly and the whole process did not pose much of a challenge at all to the skilled gamer. She did not require a lot of help from her server player from that point on, aside from building up her hive, but Kanaya kept a close eye on her regardless. On the one hand because it was her duty as a moirail to make sure her client player did not do anything too irresponsible or dangerous, but on the other hand because she could not lie to herself about the red feelings she harboured for Vriska, which were not as pale as she cared to admit.

Kanaya's train of thought was interrupted as she heard the distinct sound of a new message on her lunchtop. She turned away from the window she had been gazing out of and answered with due haste, considering her situation, so as not to keep the troll waiting.

centaursTesticle [CT] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

CT: D - Miss Maryam

CT: D - It is necessary for me to connect as your server player

CT: D - I trust you are adequately prepared for e%tra%ion from Alternia

GA: Greetings Equius

GA: Do Not Worry I Have Completed All Essential Preparations So I Am Ready To Enter The Game As Soon As You Are

GA: Which As I Might Add Should Be Quite Soon Lest I Do Not Get Killed By The Already Numerous Meteorites Currently Devastating My Immediate Surroundings

CT: D - I see, I will make haste

CT: D - My server should finish establishing the conne%ion any moment now

Kanaya quickly closed her own server window showing live footage from Vriska's hive, which her lunchtop had naturally been broadcasting as a large hologram. Of course she had not been intruding into her client player's privacy, the thought had not even crossed her mind. Nonetheless she did not want her blue blooded server player to think, that she had spent all of her time watching her, which was not strictly correct anyway. Merely most of it.

Her client software had been running for quite a while, waiting patiently for a server player to connect. Half a minute later she could hear the Cruxtruder being deployed behind her. When she stood up to get to work, a white dress with blue wings caught her eyes. Vriska had asked her to sew it for her not even half an hour ago and Kanaya gave her the code so that she could create a replica using SGRUB's alchemy system. Crafting the dress had been fun and she was particularly pleased with the way the wings had turned out. Her client player had not tried it on yet, but Kanaya was sure that it would look absolutely lovely on her.

A meteor strike, much closer judging by the volume of the noise and the way she just felt her hive shake from the impact, returned her focus to the extremely dangerous conditions she was currently facing. She turned to the Cruxtruder and forcefully whacked the top with the blunt end of her chainsaw. Even though she was prepared, the Kernelsprite's epileptic flashing startled Kanaya slightly. On the floating hologram she could see that Equius had sent additional messages.

CT: D - I am going to deploy the Cru%truder ne%t to you

CT: D - You do not 100k like you will require assistance opening it

CT: D - You will find both the other machines as well as the pre-punched captchalogue card in the larger sphere atop your hive

GA: Thank You

GA: The Corpse Of My Deceased Lusus Lies On The Grass Not Far From My Hive

GA: I Would Greatly Appreciate It If You Were To Lift It Up To My Room So The Kernelsprite May Be Prototyped With Her Remains

CT: D - Of course

CT: D - My condolences for your loss

CT: D - It seems that each of us is 100sing their respective 100sus tonight

CT: D - Or day in your case

CT: D - Aradia says it is owing to a maledi%ion cast upon us

GA: Perhaps

GA: Although I Always Knew That She Would Have A Very Short Life

GA: It Was Just Her Time And There Was Nothing Anyone Could Do About It

GA: Regardless This Is Not The Time For Grief

Kanaya's statement was punctuated by another meteor impact in the green oasis that distinguished her residence from the desert around it. When she looked out the window, she could see that one of the large, colourful pieces of cloth decorating her hive had been pierced by a relatively small rock. A bit farther away she noticed a small fire, where another meteor had struck. A moment later the corpse of the virgin mother grub, whose waist had been opened by her charge after she had died, was picked up and elevated to Kanaya's window. She ducked as the jade coloured Kernelsprite flew over her head and stayed almost still next to the floating corpse, as though it was particularly attracted to these remains. A bright flash heralded the rebirth of Kanaya's lusus and a glimmer of joy could be seen in the girl's eyes. Alas, there was no time to waste, a thorough reunion would have to wait. So she only smiled briefly at the ghostly new form of the creature that had raised her and returned to the Cruxtruder.

After she had gathered a dowel of Cruxite, Kanaya used the convenient transportalizers her hive was equipped with to reach the remaining machines, which were located as per Equius' instructions on her hive's top floor. When the light green shimmering totem had finished carving, her server player informed her that she had about a minute remaining. So little? For some reason she had not paid any attention to the countdown displayed on the Cruxtruder. Her expression became considerably more strained as she watched the Alchemiter scan the newly carved totem. The pre-punched card had shown something that she had guessed was some sort of a lock. Kanaya was still wondering how she was supposed to open it, when the totem got knocked off the pedestal by a violent meteor impact outside, which almost sent Kanaya herself to her knees. Before she could even react, the SGRUB cursor had picked up the shining totem and placed it on the Alchemiter again. Still, she was losing valuable seconds.

The process was finished quickly and Kanaya found herself standing in front of a jade green lock that easily matched her own height. Beneath a particularly fancy font spelling 'Chastity' it had a very thin slit, but no key to go along with it, as she had silently hoped would be the case.

GA: I Have No Idea What To Do With This

CT: D - If you don't have a key to open it, I suggest you try and break it with force

GA: A Crude Plan But It Might Work

She retrieved her lipstick, which quickly transformed into the chainsaw. The familiar noise filled her ears when she revved up her weapon and brought it down upon the lock in a wide overhead swing. She was knocked back far by an incredible force countering her blow and even lost her grip on the chainsaw. The lipstick flew over her head, behind the Totem Lathe, while Kanaya herself landed on her back. She muttered a cuss before getting back on her feet to look for her weapon, but after two steps the floor started shaking from the most powerful meteor strike yet. She fell over forward and hit her head on the Totem Lathe. The pain pulsed through her forehead in violent waves and she barely heard the sound of the tiny object falling on the floor to her left. Her fingers searched the floor, while she was still squinting from the hit to her head. After about five seconds, that felt like eternity to her, Kanaya finally found her lipstick and stood up once again. The holographic screen in front of her announced, that she had only 15 seconds left to avoid her '100ming e%termination'. She needed an idea and fast.

CT: D - You might need to aim for a weak spot

Weak spot? What kind of weak spot could a massive lock possess – oh! All of a sudden it began to dawn on her. She charged the few steps toward the Alchemiter and thrust at the lock with her revving chainsaw – into the slit. Under loud creaking it fit right in there. Now she only had to turn it ninety degrees and – it was stuck! Only a little bit further! With all of her strength Kanaya shoved and finally the chainsaw turned into position. The lock broke in half and with a blinding flash her tower disappeared from Alternia's surface.


	2. Relationship and Revelation

Equius Zahhak looked up from his muscletop, a mobile computing device in the shape of a majestic hoofbeast. The suspense caused by the calamity his client player had only narrowly escaped as well as her impressive display of physical strength had made him sweat. He had not talked to the jade blood before and was quite surprised by her excellent manners and language. Her status in the hierarchy was not great, but at least he did not have to help a complete gutter blood into the game. The recent revelation that forced him to cooperate with the red team and their foul-mouthed leader had changed his mood for the worse already. The thought alone made his noble blue blood boil with unfathomable rage.

Equius noticed that he was perspiring again, when he felt a towel being placed onto his shoulders by the gentle robotic hands that could only belong to Aradia. It was as if that towel had not only absorbed his sweat, but all of his anger at the same time. He turned around to look at her. Aradia's gleaming red eyes were surrounded by metallic fibre lashes, each of which he had affixed individually. He was a master artisan and she was his magnum opus. Equius' vision went dark for a second as Aradia wiped the towel across his forehead. The next moment he could feel her lips on his own and reciprocated the kiss sensually. After they had detached, Aradia asked with her reverberant voice: "How did it go?" – "What?" – "The entry." She clarified. "Right. It went orderly." He responded and added: "The jade blood survived, mostly unharmed." She nodded. "Good. Kanaya's role is crucial in regard to the ultimate goal of this game. We can't afford to lose the Sylph of Space." Equius silently approved. Aradia seemed to know a lot of things and she had become the de facto leader of the blue team, carried over from her dominance in her relationship with Equius. In the three hours after their disastrous first encounter their quadrant had flipped colours twice, both times on account of Aradia's moodiness. She dragged him with her from red to black and back again. Equius would not say, especially not out loud, that he was unhappy, but he had envisioned their relationship to be a little less volatile.

His gaze wandered down her smooth body. Only half an hour ago she had finally allowed him to repair the gaping hole left in her chest after she had ripped out her own heart and destroyed it before his eyes. He shuddered at the memory. Perhaps she noticed or maybe she could read his mind – Equius was almost certain that this was not one of her powers, but he could never be entirely sure with a psychic like her – either way she said: "I have not forgiven you for what you tried to do to me yet. It is not unlikely that I never will." He could feel the temperature in the room falling. He needed to do something, if he didn't want the situation to deteriorate, something strong. Equius looked straight into Aradia's eyes through his cracked shades and took a heavy step towards her. Even though her face did not change, he was certain that he could make out a spark of surprise in her eyes – excellent. She did not resist when he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Aradia, you know that what I did, I did only because of my unfaltering love for you." He spoke with an even deeper voice than usually. He could feel her arm press against his back with a softness that belied her metallic exoskeleton's real rigidity. She kissed him again. "Yes, Equius, I realize." She answered and added in a tone of voice that could melt a glacier and freeze a volcano all at once: "That is why you are still alive."

Equius did not know how to respond to that, so he simply kept holding her. She did not seem to mind; in fact she looked quite satisfied. "I think we should return to the quest at hand." Aradia stated after a while, "The denizen isn't going to kill himself and neither are all the imps standing between him and us." – "Of course, Aradia." He could go for killing some monsters right now. "Go on ahead, I will catch up with you in a minute." After a moment of consideration she nodded and departed for the first gate. Equius let out a short sigh of relief. It was not that he did not enjoy her company, far from it, but it was very intense and he needed a little time to recover his breath, so to speak. Besides he wanted to check on Kanaya and make sure she was alright for the time being. He would have to build up her hive later. When he found the Sylph on his screen though, she was most certainly not alright.

* * *

Kanaya did not move for a few seconds. The noise of the meteor impacts outside had stopped. Only now, that everything was perfectly silent, she realized how loud it had really been before. She looked around. Wherever she was, this place was a lot darker than the desert she had just left behind forever. Maybe it was night time over here. She enjoyed the sunlight and hoped that she would not be forced to spend the duration of her quest in darkness. 'Don't be so picky, you are lucky to be alive', she scolded herself. At the same time she could hear some movement behind her back. She had seen Vriska fight small creatures bearing the features of every lusus that had been prototyped so far. From what she could tell, they were rather weak on their own. Another sound – the imp was trying to sneak up on her. Kanaya realized that she was still clutching her chainsaw. There was hardly any fun in facing a minor enemy like this up front, she thought, so she decided to play a little and lure the creature into attacking her. She slowly lifted the lipstick up to her face and put a new layer of black on her lips, despite the fact that she did not have a mirror on hand. And there was the sound! In one fluid motion she turned around, the chainsaw in her hands, and cut right through the imp jumping at her, which was caught completely off guard. Before it exploded into grist, she could make out eight eyes on its startled face, framed on both sides by gigantic bull horns. Kanaya could not help but smile a little at her quaint ruse as she gathered the colourful grist. She then decided to head back to her room before any imps started messing with her belongings.

There was nothing to worry about though. Even if any imps had tried to intrude into her room, her lusus had been keeping good watch over it. Kanaya had heard from Vriska, that their guardians could speak in their new sprite form and she was definitely looking forward to finally conversing with her lusus, who had raised and protected her ever since she had emerged from the brooding caverns. First things first though. She needed to check on her client player and make sure that all the irons she indubitably had in the fire did not get too hot for her to handle. She opened the SGRUB server software on her lunchtop. D'aww, there she was, lying on the floor next to some dice Kanaya had neatly piled up when she had been cleaning Vriska's hive. She was even wearing the pretty costume Kanaya had sewed for her earlier. The view was about as heart-warming as it could possibly get.

One of Vriska's windows burst as something came crashing into her hive all of a sudden. It was a very confused looking Tavros and his rocket chair. 'What is _he_ doing there?' Kanaya wondered. It did not seem like he could answer that question himself. The impact had catapulted him out of his vehicle and now he was lying on the floor, incapable of getting up due to his paralyzed legs. Vriska on the other hand seemed to have just woken up. She got to her feet and looked at her visitor with, as Kanaya could tell, insincere surprise and excitement. The excitement turned out to be not quite as insincere as it was mischievous, when she could see a flashing of devilish joy in Vriska's eye. Kanaya was bewildered and worried at the same time. Vriska had bullied Tavros around before, not to mention thrown him off a cliff. 'What do you have planned, Vriska?' She wondered. The girl on her screen proceeded to walk up to Tavros and – threw some glittery powder at him? She then grabbed him with both arms by his shirt, pulled him up and – the world fell apart.

Kanaya, thunderstruck, watched in horror as Vriska pressed her lips against Tavros'. She could not believe it. So this was why Vriska had her make that dress? Kanaya could feel her heart shattering inside her chest as she went from perplexed to angry, angry at her own stupidity, to distressed. Jade tears started flowing down her face, their warmth fuelled by the unbearable pain tormenting her innocent, youthful emotions. A whirlwind of burning shards of ice was raging through her soul, leaving deep wounds. She could feel a claw resting on her shoulder softly. The voice of her custodian had an echoing sound to it: "There there, sweetheart." Kanaya could plainly hear the sincere compassion carried by these words, but it was no use. She could never be happy again. That is what she was thinking, when a new message sounded from her lunchtop, waking her out of her baleful sorrow. She was about to dismiss it due to her emotional state, but something inside her welcomed the possible distraction. Unsure what to do she looked at her sprite. The ghostly mother grub nodded and said: "Go ahead and answer your friend, Kanaya. They may help with cheering you up." She took a look at the chat window. It was Equius of all people. 'Oh, of course, he can see me through his server software.' She reminded herself. Kanaya had not heard a lot of good things about the blue blood. Especially Karkat reviled him a lot, but she was not about to judge him solely on that basis. She would see what he had to say; after all he had saved her life.

centaursTesticle [CT] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

CT: D - E%cuse my intrusion, Kanaya

CT: D - It 100% like you are quite distraught

CT: D - Also I could not help but witness the scene in your server window

CT: D - When such fraternization in blatant disregard of the b100dlines hurts a delicate young lady like yourself, it is adding 100fold insult to injury

CT: D - This is una%eptable

CT: D - I would take a%ion against this 100di%ly depraved activity myself

CT: D - Alas, I am not the red team's leader though and they are outside my jurisdi%ion

GA: I Appreciate The Sentiment Equius

GA: I Suppose

GA: But Im Afraid Forcefully Separating Vriska And Tavros Would Not Serve Any Practical Purpose At All

GA: Least Of All Raising My Spirits

CT: D - I see

CT: D - I apologize, I have strayed off course in attempting to mend your wounds

CT: D - I should have known better

GA: Its Ok

GA: As I Have Said I Do Appreciate The Sentiment

GA: I Would Not Have Guessed That You Cared So Much For Those Beneath You

It took a minute until she received an answer to this.

CT: D - I certainly do

CT: D - A b100 b100d must be STRONG for the ones of lesser status

CT: D - It is only reasonable

CT: D - Don't you think

GA: I Suppose So

CT: D - 100king at you I must say

CT: D - The way that you are conducting yourself with such grace despite being in such e%treme emotional distress is

CT: D - Admirable

GA: Thank You

GA: Am I Really Though

GA: I Can Still Feel The Tears When I Think That She Would Do This To Me

GA: Wait

GA: Fuck

CT: D - Please, mind your language

GA: Yes I Just

GA: Wish I Hadnt Said That

CT: D - So it is Serket after all

CT: D - There is no reason to be ashamed, she is the f001 who loaded shame onto herself

CT: D - She is a disgrace to her class

CT: D - And not deserving of your affe%ion

CT: D - I suggest you demolish everything that reminds you of her, starting with this costume bearing her symbol

CT: D - The one that you are currently holding

CT: D - In fact, I command it

Kanaya felt confused, tossed back and forth from her sorrow to the anger against Vriska Equius was stirring inside her. Either way, she thought, it was better to get the Thief of Light off her mind. She looked at the dress in her hands. Not even an hour had passed since she had made it, but it felt like forever ago. She saw the jade tear stains on the white cloth, tears she had cried because of _her_. Her fault! Giving in to the impulse she ripped the costume in half – and again, while letting out a sharp cry, and tore the transparent blue wings from the cloth.

When her flaming rage had subsided, Kanaya stared at the white tatters teary-eyed. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve feeling strangely relieved, but also exhausted. When she wanted to thank Equius, she found that he had already logged off.


End file.
